1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for storage of hazardous waste in underground cavities or caverns leached out of underground salt formations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years it has been a growing realization among industry leaders, government leaders and society in general that industrial pollution is an issue that must be dealt with positively and effectively. In 1969 the National Environmental Policy Act (N.E.P.A.) was signed into law which committed the Federal Government to a policy of considering the environmental impact of federally funded or sponsored projects on the surrounding environment and society. Since that time, a host of environmentally oriented laws have been passed which treat the subjects of clean air, clean water, toxic substances, safety in the workplace and more recently, with the passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (R.C.R.A.) of 1976 the issue of hazardous waste disposal. This act was in response to the recognition that hazardous waste had generally been disposed of in environmentally unacceptable ways; that past practices have largely been ineffective in constraining the waste to established disposal sites; or worse yet, disposal was indiscriminate, resulting in widespread pollution, both of land surface and surface water. Evidence now indicates that prevalent ground water contamination has occurred by existing disposal practices.
Numerous surveys and even Congressional investigations have shown that thousands of generators exist in the United States and that millions of tons of hazardous and toxic waste have been produced and disposed of in various ways, some in controlled manners, but much in uncontrolled manners. A recent survey conducted by a major research firm forecast that there will be 285,000,000 tons of hazardous waste produced by the 1990's and that the market for the amount of growth will be around 16% per year during the 1980's. This report further indicates that the implementation of the R.C.R.A. will accelerate the growth of hazardous waste to be disposed of in the future. Proper hazardous waste disposal will further accelerate when abandoned toxic waste dump sites are mandated to be cleaned up under the government's Superfund program.
Many factors have now created a need for high quality hazardous waste disposal programs. Hazardous waste storage continues to dominate the headlines. The available supply of safe disposal sites is limited. The implementation of R.C.R.A. will force the closing of environmentally unsafe facilities. The shift to on site facilities by industry in the short term, will accelerate exhaustion of the on site capacity and increase pressure for off site disposal in the long term. Only about 100 of 16,000 current land disposal sites have impermeable liners. Possible contamination of drinking water aquifers are a major concern in heavily populated industrial cities.
Consequently, these factors have created a great need for improvements in hazardous waste disposal.